Sterling burglar seeks to have 4-year sentence, guilty plea tossed

MORRISON – A longtime Sterling felon sentenced last month to four years in prison is asking the judge to vacate the judgment and allow him to withdraw his guilty plea, citing his “lack of understanding of the consequences of the plea.”

Erik W. Dunaven, 47, pleaded guilty Dec. 20, in Whiteside County court to aggravated DUI with no valid driver’s license, two counts of burglary and one of theft.

Dunaven was arrested Sept. 5 after being charged in five separate 2023 felony cases and one 2022 case. He pleaded guilty in four of them and was sentenced to three years, six months for the theft and for one burglary charge, and four years each on the other two charges, to be served concurrently.

Two counts of burglary, four of theft and two misdemeanors were dismissed per a plea agreement.

Part-time Assistant Public Defender Daniel Huffman filed the motion to vacate and withdraw on Dunaven’s behalf on Jan 18. A hearing on the motion has not yet been scheduled.

According to the statements of facts Assistant Whiteside County State’s Attorney Ryan Simon filed a day after his conviction, Dunaven and another man broke into Willy’s restaurant, 3210 W. Lincolnway in Sterling, on June 25 and took a cash register containing $300 and $828 from several gaming machines.

Dunaven was identified on video surveillance by his distinctive neck tattoo, according to the statement.

His purported accomplice has not been charged, court records show.

Dunaven also broke into the then-Chuck Wagon Saloon, 1201 E. Fourth St. in Sterling, on July 11 and stole $200 from the cash register. He again was caught on video and again identified by a distinctive tattoo, this one on his hand, according to the statement

He told police he didn’t remember committing that crime because he was addicted to and on about a seven-day methamphetamine bender at the time, according to the statement.

In a handwritten, ex parte letter dated Jan. 2 that he sent to Judge Trish Senneff, which, ethically, she can neither consider nor respond to, Dunaven also claimed ineffective assistance of counsel, citing, among other things, documents he said his public defender, Dana McCormick, failed to provide him so he could file a complaint.

He did not, however, claim that in his motion, and so McCormick cannot respond to the accusation.

He also said in the letter that he was “unfairly” excluded from participating in drug court, insinuating that it was due at least in part to his visible face and neck tattoos and his criminal history, which, he said, has included no violent offenses that would have disqualified him from participating, for at least 15 years.

Dunaven, formerly of Rock Falls, is incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center, with a projected parole date of Sept. 20. 2026.

He has a criminal history dating back 16 years in Whiteside and Lee counties. It includes convictions for burglarizing a store at Northland Mall and for theft, aggravated battery, unlawful restraint, forgery and escape.